SAINT-PIERRE-DU-MONT, France — Despite shifting political winds, citizens of the northern French province of Normandy maintain their love affair with the United States in gratitude for America’s role in liberating the region from Nazi occupation during World War II.

“Normandy loves America,” said Helen Patton, granddaughter of Gen. George S. Patton and whose Patton Foundation maintains a presence in the region. “Elsewhere it might be gauche to love America now, but here, we have this history.”